The approaches described in this section are approaches that could be pursued, but not necessarily approaches that have been previously conceived or pursued. Therefore, unless otherwise indicated, the approaches described in this section may not be prior art to the claims in this application and are not admitted to be prior art by inclusion in this section.
Cantilever electrical connector elements are widely used in the manufacture of probe cards for testing, e.g., wafer testing, integrated circuits and similar items. A cantilever electrical connector, i.e., a cantilever probe, is designed to provide electrical contact between an electrical contact point, e.g., a contact pad, on the device under test and another electrical contact point, e.g., another contact pad, on a testing apparatus. Thus, the cantilever probe provides a portion of an electrical path in a probe card assembly, where the probe card assembly provides the electrical interconnection between a device under test and a testing apparatus. Conventional cantilever probes are formed from a variety of processes, such as lithographic techniques, formed (bent) wire and stamped metal. Forming cantilever probes can be a difficult and labor intensive process. In some applications, cantilever probes are very small and must be precisely located. Further, cantilever probes are often delicate and break easily.